World Well-Being Week: Maintaining your mental health for well-being

WITH World Well-Being Week being observed this week, mental health and emotional well-being are important topics to talk about. Saranne Durhan of the South African College of Applied Psychology gives insight into the importance of mental health and the negative impact of not taking care of your emotional well-being / mental health. 

She says mental health is often side-lined due to historic misunderstandings and prejudices. These result in many people only seeking assistance once things have gotten to a crisis point. 

Durham says the challenge is that people often do not believe in maintaining their well-being, believing that it is automatically okay. So, we are not taught how to monitor it and what the warning signs of an imbalance are.

Also read: World Well-being Week: Prioritise you!

She further highlights that mental health significantly impacts our everyday life from childhood into adolescence and throughout our adult lives.

“It affects how we feel, think and act, therefore also our emotional responses, physical health and overall well-being. A lack of awareness of your mental-health well-being can also result in a misdiagnosis of the physical symptoms related to it. For example, anxiety can cause facial numbness and tingling which could be misdiagnosed as a neurological problem and treated accordingly. 

“Your mental health can determine how efficiently and effectively you function or interact with others. This could impact the well-being of those around you, such as family, friends and community. Usually, anxiety causes someone to withdraw. However, some individuals react with disproportionate aggression and anger, which, instead of being seen as an anxiety symptom, is labelled as a tantrum or a definite characteristic of the person.”  

Also read: A healthy mind – essential for wellbeing

She explains that mental health is a state of well-being where we are able to realise our own abilities and cope with the normal stresses of life – as well as being able to work productively and make contributions to our community. 

“It is not only about not having mental health problems but rather about promoting mental well-being as a crucial part of living a happy, healthy and fulfilling life. Experiencing poor mental health over a long period of time can also impact other areas of our lives, like our self-image and self-esteem, our relationships with people around us, and our enjoyment of and productivity at work.

“High levels of continual stress have also been linked to serious health consequences, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. Also, depending on what kind of challenge we are facing, waiting a long time before addressing it could make it more difficult to overcome in the long run,” she said.